Dating websites generally allow users to maintain online profiles with pictures, factual information about themselves, their likes and dislikes, and other personal information. These profiles can be searched for and viewed by other users of the website. Some dating websites tailor the profile search to information provided by the user so that the search results highlight or are limited to other users who live nearby, who share similar interests, who are more compatible, etc. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,613,706 and 8,010,556, and U.S. Pub. Ser. No. 10/740,174.
Dating websites also allow for some level of communication between users. For example, if a first user searches the profile of a second user and is interested in the second user, the first user can initiate a dialogue with the second user. The second user has the option of responding or not responding. In many dating websites, the users also have the capability of blocking other specific users so that those specific users are prevented from searching the first user's profile and/or communicating with the first user.
One drawback of traditional dating websites is that, with respect to any given user, most other users of the website are complete strangers. Thus, if a first user is contacted by a second user, the first user does not have anyone to vouch for the second user. Moreover, the first user is not even capable of verifying that the information in the second user's profile is accurate. The second user could be using someone else's picture, lying about his/her personal information, or even using an alias. Even if the first user was “matched” with the second user with respect to purported compatibility, as is common in a number of dating websites, the first user has no way of knowing whether the second user provided spurious answers to the questions that determine compatibility. For this reason, there is always a level of uncertainty and possibly danger associated with meeting another dating-website user in person.
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